The Whole of the Law
by kolchaksghost
Summary: 16 yr old Esme is sent to live with relatives in England after a family tragedy. She learns a secret that leads her to England's most notorious occultist, Aleister Crowley. Stand alone story/prequil to The Care and Feeding of Zombies. AU.
1. Exile

**The Whole of the Law**

_Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight and its characters. I'm just borrowing them, especially Esme for a while._

***

_ I lay naked upon the alter, my innocent flesh willingly sacrificed to the Great Beast. A shiver of excitement danced through me as the others began to chant…_

Ch. 1: Exiled

EsPOV

Tears flowed freely from my eyes and streaked down my cheeks as my parents' coffins were lowered into the earth. My parents had been well liked and the entire town had shown up for their funeral. I briefly glanced around in the vane hope that Dr. Cullen would be here but he had already moved away. My left hand absented traced the cast he had put on my right arm a week ago. I had been smitten by the good doctor and wished he could whisk me away from my heartache.

It hardly seemed fair that my life could be changed so drastically in just one week. The day after Dr. Cullen had put the cast on my arm, Mother and Father had gone into town to buy supplies for her younger sister's visit. They never made it home; an accident had taken both of their lives. Sheriff Dobbs delivered the horrible news later that evening. Two days later, Aunt Edith and Uncle Henry Langford, her husband, arrived. The two of them helped my older brother, Eli, plan the funeral. I almost felt as bad for my Aunt as I did for myself because she and her husband had come all the way from England for a visit.

I helped Aunt Edith make supper while Eli and Uncle Henry ensconced themselves in Father's study with Reverend Hammond and two other men I did not know. The men reappeared just as the last of the food was set on the table. Supper was an awkward affair because Uncle was obviously angry with Eli for some unknown reason. When the meal was finished the Reverend and the other two men excused themselves then left our family to find solace in each other.

As a whole, the family drifted into the parlor. I sat next to Aunt Edith on the small sofa while my Uncle scowled by the fireplace and my brother paced the room. The tension grew thicker by the second and gradually I grew more nervous. Just when I started to fidget, Eli stopped in front of me.

"Esme, you are going to go live with Aunt Edith and Uncle Henry. The three of you are leaving in the morning," he stated forcefully.

"WHY!? Why do I have to leave? This is my home and you have no right to send me away," I replied incredulously.

"Actually, with Father dead, this house and the farm all belong to me. Tomorrow afternoon, Becky Johnston and I are going down to the Justice of the Peace and getting married. As the oldest male of our immediate family, you will do as I say and what I say is that I want you out of _MY_ home before my new bride and I return," Eli shot back hatefully.

Now I knew why Uncle Henry had been mad at my brother during supper. _He did not want me to live him and Aunt Edith any more than Eli wanted me,_ I thought as I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes again. Uncle must have seen my devastated expression because he quickly spoke up.

"Esme, dearest, Edith and I would love nothing more than for you to come live with us. When your brother told me of his plans, I argued your part. Your life has changed so dramatically in such a short amount of time and I simply wanted you to have the opportunity to mourn the loss of your parents before the added trauma of moving to an entirely different country was thrust upon you. I had hoped to convince your brother that he should postpone his plans for a few months. However, I am ashamed to say he would budge as you can see," Henry explained honestly.

I gave him a small smile but it did not keep me from crying. Eli turned to say something to the older man and I ran upstairs to my room. Aunt Edith joined me a few minutes later then held me in her arms until I fell, emotionally drained, asleep.

The next morning was overcast and bleak, which seemed to fit both my mood and forced departure perfectly. My Aunt helped me get dressed then the two of us headed downstairs. All of my belongings had been packed while I slept and Uncle Henry had gone as far as seeing that my Hope Chest, which contained my dowry, was safely delivered to their hotel room before he retired for the night. When we joined him outside, I was happy that my cad of a brother was nowhere to be seen.

After a brief stop by my parents' graveside, we three made our way into town to catch the train. Uncle had secured a private car for us and was supervising the delivery of the luggage while his wife and I walked around town. There was a little more than an hour before our train left so we were able to get something to eat before then.

Edith and Henry told me to stop referring to them as Aunt and Uncle because we were so close in age; she being eighteen and him being twenty-three, we could almost be siblings. I was only to use the honorifics during formal occasions, and then only when they asked me to in advance. Somehow, using their names in the familiar seemed liberating and I started to view my situation not as being exiled from my home but starting a new chapter of my life. In hind sight, that was truer than I ever realized.

I spent the four day train ride learning all I could about my new home and family. One of the more scandalous things I found out was that my mother had fled England to avoid an arranged marriage. Just days after Charlotte Biggles arrived in America, she ran into my father and it was love at first sight. Less than twenty minutes later the two left the Justice of the Peace's office as husband and wife.

Edith and Henry had been married for two years and lived at Grey Haven, a small estate northwest of London. His father had been a modest country Squire whose meager income had allowed his son to read Law at Oxford. Henry was a very successful Barrister and parlayed that income, along with an inheritance from his father's death, into a respectable fortune. That allowed him to purchase Grey Haven from a family that had fallen on hard times.

Edith spent several hours extolling the virtues of living in England in general then on living near London. After we arrived in New York, there was going to be a month long ocean voyage ahead of us and she promised to teach me enough that there would be no culture shock for me when we got there. From everything my companions told me, I was looking forward to my new life.

The conversation lulled during supper and then just died afterward. Henry left to play cards in the Club car while Edith began to read a rather non-descript, leather bound, book. I tried to occupy myself with watching the scenery pass but it was dark outside so I grew bored. When I asked my Aunt what she was reading, Edith grew very tense. She told me that it was a tawdry romance that Henry would not approve of but for some reason I thought she was lying.

Before I asked any more questions, she handed me a book from my Uncle's valise. I took it then glanced at the title, _Dracula_. Looking back, it was almost a prophetic choice. The book Edith was reading tipped slightly as she offered me the other book and I had been able to see some rather strange diagrams on the page for a few seconds. Whatever that volume was, it most definitely not a tawdry romance; those mysterious pictograms tantalized my imagination until I lost myself in Stoker's novel.

I fell asleep at some point and had the most intriguing dream. A certain golden-eyed doctor played the role of Jonathan Harker and he saved me from being ravaged by the dreaded Count. Just as things began to cross over into the inappropriate with Mr. Harker, Henry returned which abruptly woke me up. I was unable to fall back asleep for some time after that.

As I watched my family sleep, those weird drawings haunted me. Something about them called to me in a way that nothing else ever had. In the wee hours of the night, I vowed that I would discover the truth. Finally, I drifted back into an exhausted slumber.

In spite of my vow, the rest of the trip to New York was very frustrating. Henry never left our private car and the strange book never made another appearance. I tried to talk to Edith about it while her husband was in the toilet but she pretended to not remember the book. Many times when I was caught between sleep and consciousness, I heard whispered arguments about the enigmatic tome. Obviously, Henry knew about it and was upset because I had seen it. Edith assured him that I forget about it when we reached the city. Two days of shopping before the ship sailed were a temporary distraction.


	2. Eyes Wide Open

**The Whole of the Law**

_Disclaimer: SM left her toys out and thought that I'd play with them for a bit._

Ch. 2: Eyes Wide Open

EsPOV

New York City was amazing; I had never been to someplace so big. Edith made sure the prediction she gave her husband came true. In between all the shopping, my Aunt took me to see the sites. I was like a kid at Christmas because everything was new and exciting. The highlight was when she and Henry took me to see P.T. Barnum's Museum of Curiosities. While many of the exhibits seemed fake, they opened my mind to a new world of possibilities.

The next day, we checked into our adjoining cabins on the steamship. I had never been on ship before and I was nervous. Henry assured that the White Star line had the reputation of being the safest passenger liners. Not long after we left port, we learned that I suffered from seasickness. Uncle opened a small valise then pulled out a bottle of tablets; he offered two of them to me with a glass of water. Edith explained that they would help and my seasickness would be gone by morning. Despite the small respite the pills gave me, I chose to pass on dinner.

I woke up and felt normal again. My stomach growled so I got out of bed, cleaned myself off then got dressed. The sun outside the porthole indicated it was still morning; I walked through the connecting door to Edith and Henry's room to ask about breakfast. Their room was empty but I noticed a note on the nightstand.

_Esme,_

_We heard you get up. Join us in the dining room once you are dressed._

_Edith_

I turned to leave by the main door when I bumped into a chair that held Henry's valise and knocked it over. Among the contents that spilled to the floor was a book similar to the one that Edith was reading on the train. My curiosity flared and I quickly put the rest of things back in the bag then sat on the edge of the bed and started to read. The pages were filled with hand written text that was crisp and neat. The tome was a treatise on the basic principals of magic… real magic. I ignored the hunger that gnawed at my stomach as I lost myself in the material.

The first few pages talked about the nature of magic and how an Adept needed to open their mystical "Third Eye" to see the warp and weft of it. To see these Auras was the first step on the path to Enlightenment and Power. There were instructions on how to open this "Eye" at the end of the reading. Mother always told Eli and I that fools rush in where wise men fear to tread. It was sage advice against doing stupid or dangerous things. Excitement over what I read allowed me to ignore that advice and jump, feet first, into the unknown.

Following the instructions, I took several deep breaths to relax and settle my mind. Then I allowed my eyes to become unfocused to the point where I saw a blurred outline around everything. Once I got to that point, I concentrated until the outline remained but my vision was back to normal. Something snapped open in my mind and colored energy appeared all around me but it was too bright. My head started to throb and it felt like it was being squeezed in a vise. I let out a strangled scream then the world went black.

HPOV

Edith and I were thrilled when we heard our niece wake up and start getting ready. It meant that her seasickness was cured but she would be hungry because she had missed supper. My wife wrote a note for Esme to meet us in the dining room once she was ready then headed to the door. I placed my valise on the edge of one of the chairs and made sure it was partially open before joining her. Her expression went from quizzical to knowing and she nodded her head in approval.

When we arrived at my sister-in-law's home we learned of her and her husband's deaths but discovered something more important. Where Eli's aura had been as black as his twisted soul, Esme's was another matter entirely. Her aura was vibrant; it showed her natural curiosity, love and protectiveness for her family, as well as innate power that marked her potential to become one of the great Adepts. Edith read that in the young girl as well. The Order might frown on overt manipulation of innocents, desperate times called for equally desperate measures.

After the funeral, Eli led myself and a few other men into the study. I used the opportunity to read deeper into the fiend's aura. The toll of his was there and I knew he killed his parents. If Esme was left in his charge, she would not live much longer. It was a simple parlor trick to hypnotize the four other men in the room then guide my worthless relation to demand that his sister live with my wife and I. The rest of the evening went as I expected.

Edith followed the emotional younger woman to her room while I faced off against the blackguard. Subtlety and gentlemanly behavior went out the window as I blatantly demonstrated my power to cower Eli. I told him that I knew what he had done and was planning to do. He visibly paled then fled the house. My wife used his absence secure any money that was hidden in the house, as well as her sister's valuables for Esme. I spent the greater part of the night making sure our niece's luggage made it safely to our hotel.

During the train ride to New York, Edith "accidentally" let her catch a glimpse of the spell book she was reading. Esme's desire to find out more about it was obvious. It was comical to watch her mounting frustration as my wife deflected every inquiry she made about the book. The look in her eyes told me that young Miss Platt was not going to suffer such deflections much longer. A month long sea voyage presented to perfect opportunity to grant her a few answers.

EdPOV

A half hour passed but Esme had yet to join us. I started to get anxious when Henry and I felt a tidal wave of psychic energy crash into us along with the sensation of someone being overwhelmed. One glance at my loving husband told me that he agreed with my impression that Esme was in t

"I thought all she would do was read the book then come ask questions, not attempt to open her Third Eye without guidance," Henry muttered as the two of us made our way back to our cabin.

I flagged down a steward on the way and asked for tea to be delivered before we went into our room. Esme was crumpled on the floor whimpering, her face a mask of pain. Henry ran over to the vanity and grabbed my container of powder. He used it to make a circle around the prone girl and I. When it was completed, we both focused energy into construct. I felt the protective barrier snap into place then my niece let out a sigh of relief.

"W-w-what happened," the caramel haired girl asked weakly.

"You opened your Third Eye without guidance and the Universe decided to bite you for it," Henry chuckled while she winced and rubbed her head.

"It would not have been nearly as bad if we were not on the ocean. Water is one of the Four Classic Elements and much like fire, it is highly conductive to psychic energy," I corrected him.

Esme looked as if we were speaking in tongues and I supposed we were. There was a knock at the door, the steward called out that he brought the tea. Henry told him to leave the trolley in the hall. When he was sure the other man was gone, he opened the door then brought it in. I broke the circle while he added some extra herbs to steep in the hot liquid. Then he helped the dear girl to sit in a chair while I poured her a cup.

With a shaking hand, she took the proffered cup and drained it in a single swallow. Under normal conditions, that would have been barbaric behavior. After what Esme had just undergone, it could be forgiven. She held out the cup for some more and I giggled as I poured her anther cupful then poured some for Henry and I.

"You have taken your first step into a larger world, my dearest. If you will permit us, Henry and I shall be your guides until there is no more we can teach you," I told her, my voice full of pride.

"I would like that very much," Esme beamed then asked for a scone to nibble on.


End file.
